Eating Your Way to Interview Success!

You are preparing for the big interview that will finally lift you out of drudgery into the career of your dreams. So far, you have done everything right: you have prepared all of your talking points, printed a list of references to hand out and laid out professional attire that will drop your new employer’s jaw several feet.

Then the nerves come. What if you become fatigued halfway through the interview? What if your brain betrays you and all your well-laid talking points vanish? What if thinking about all of this is only making you more stressed and everything worse and now you realize there is a lone imperfection in one thread of fabric in your shirt that everyone will notice and that will prevent you from ever being successful? First of all, calm down. Second, do yourself a massive favor by eating one or all of the foods below the night, or morning, before any interview.

Antioxidant Rich Berries: These sweet fruits are obvious choices – containing high vitamin C content and more – but let’s focus on what they do for your brain. As your brain works, it creates nasty byproducts called free radicals that wreck havoc on your neurons, causing inflammation and slowing down the junctions of thought. If given free reign, these radicals will burn at your grey matter, leaving you at risk for diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s. By eating berries daily, which are rich in antioxidants, you can remove unneeded stresses upon your brain. With berries, the fresh is always the better, so toss several cups into unsweetened yogurt and enjoy.

Fatty Fish: Most people assume that when eating meat, you should always opt to go lean. Though true for earth and air bound animals, it does not apply for nautical dwellers. Fattier fish like salmon and tuna store higher levels of omega-3 in their fat tissue, which builds brain tissues, protects brain cell membranes and keeps you on task. You get your full value out of these fattier fish, so switch up the beef, pork and poultry for a more rewarding filet. Your brain will thank you.

Seaweed: Western cuisine tends to lack many traces of this marine vegetation – we seem far more concerned with how many animals and vegetables we can successfully fit in a deep-fryer – but there are definitely reasons to change that. When your body is lacking iodine, you feel fatigued and inclined towards depression. Now, just a miniscule amount of seaweed, as little as a quarter cup, delivers a whopping 275% of your daily value! If you are feeling less adventurous, grab 4 ounces of cranberries; they contain about 138% of your daily value of iodine in addition to ample amounts of vitamin C, antioxidants and dietary fiber. Your body will be ready and rearing to go through your interview and beyond!

Green Tea: According to a Japanese study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, participants found a 20% decrease in psychological stress when they drank five cups of green tea each day, while those drinking less than one were more on edge and, presumably, more tempted to tear their hair from the roots. Drinking several cups of tea can calm your nerves, allowing you to present the best and most serene you. In addition to that, green tea suppresses appetite, so you have to worry less about your stomach raging over a minor lull in sustenance. So drink some green tea. Do your body a favor.

Yogurt: This is a great option for breakfast. Yogurt contains a strong source of protein, riboflavin, and vitamin b12 to name a few and can often be eaten by people with moderate lactose-intolerance. If you go with additive free yogurt, you will get the benefits without the artificial sweeteners. When it comes to interviewing though, you will be thankful for the lysine found in yogurt, which helps to lower your anxiety in stressing situations. Unsalted nuts have a similar effect thanks to an amino acid called arginine.

Ultimately, it is a good idea to balance out what you eat. It never is a good idea to overdo it with any food group (an over-abundance of carrots has been known to turn people orange). Make sure you eat right, eat well and go into that interview feeling like a million bucks.